VARIABLE

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin variabilis, from variare to vary Date: 14th century 1. able or apt to vary ; subject to variation or changes , fickle , inconstant , characterized by variations, having the characteristics of a ~, not true to type ; aberrant , variability noun ~ness noun variably adverb II. noun Date: 1816 1. a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values, a symbol representing a ~, something that is ~, ~ star